I
It’s just a book for Chrissake.
Quit taking it so seriously.
You mean to say it has no relation
to real life experiences?
Hell no! Why would you think that?
Oh, you know me, Dan, always ready
to try out a new conspiracy theory.
Look, Ann, there’s this thing
called fiction. You write a story. You create an imaginary world. A
self-contained reality. You fill it with characters and events and then you
offer it to the public for consumption. They read it. They either like it or
not. It lives a life of its own in their minds, in their imaginations.
I think I just about know what
fiction is Dan.
Well then why on earth are you
accusing me of being some kind of magician just because I wrote a book in which
there's an alchemist?
I don't know. It's just a little
too convincing if you ask me.
Great! You mean I did a good job
writing it. I appreciate the positive review.
No, the book sucks but no one's
reading it for the plot or character portrayal.
No? That's a pity.
Everyone's reading it for the
alchemy, taking notes, trying to figure out how or what they can do themselves.
How they can do themselves?
Syntax error.
Ok. Well that's the fun of
literature isn't it, people get to live through their own heroes, imagining
they themselves can fly or kill an advancing army single-handedly.
Yep, no one's disputing that.
Then your problem is solved...
On the contrary.
On the contrary?
Yep. Either you’re being
disingenuous and playing me for a fool, or everyone who’s busy trying to replicate
the novel’s alchemy is strangely deluded.
Well it’s obviously the latter,
isn’t it, which just goes to show the power of great literature. A story, no
matter how bad it appears to be, superficially, if it manages to convince the
readers that it’s for real... what more can I say? Pure genius.
You have said quite enough Dan.
Frankly, I think you’re in big trouble.
Trouble? What are you talking
about?
You think they’re just going to
look the other way when someone starts revealing their secrets.
They, Ann—who the hell are
they—and what freakin secrets are you on about?
Firstly, Dan, quit cussing—no
one’s impressed, and secondly, if you really don’t know what I’m talking about
then it’s probably too late to do anything to help.
Huh?
Talk about stepping on a hornets’
nest.
Er…
Supposing you really don’t know
who “they” are then maybe, just possibly they’ll leave you alone.
Oh, that’s nice. They value my
innocence, do they?
But personally I think it
unlikely. It’s going to be well nigh impossible persuading them that you’re an
innocent who just happened to write a fantasy tale about alchemy, which just
happened to get a bunch of readers asking dangerous questions and looking in
places they’ve not thought of looking before in order to unlock secrets which
have been under wraps for millennia.
Millennia? You’re kidding, right?
Do I look like I’m kidding?
No, not really, Ann, but then you
never do—a sense of humour’s not one of your…
Quit making light of this, Dan. It
isn’t a joking matter.
Well what do you want me to do? If
your dark forces are even now closing in on me, intent on taking my life, I may
as well end it with a smile on my face and joy in my heart.
Yes, you’ve got a point there,
Dan, but I was still hoping you’d see reason and quit playing the fool.
The fool?
Absolutely. You’re not going to be
able to bluff this one.
I…
Do you have any idea of the
probability of being able to activate people magically just by putting words
down on paper in story form?
Can’t say I’m too good with the
dark art of probabilities.
Approximately one in 400 billion.
Er… I’d love to know how you
calculated that one.
Gotta go, Dan. It’s late.
Oh.
If you decide you want to take
preventative measures before the storm hits, I’d be delighted to help, but
frankly, I feel the window for this is closing rapidly. It could be days or hours
before they act to secure you.
Yikes.
I’m off.
Hey ho! See you around, Ann.
Good bye Dan.
II
What do you mean “spaceship”?
I mean precisely that.
But how can this text possibly be
a spaceship? It has no engine, no wings or rockets. You can’t climb into it or
fly anywhere.
Yes, it’s difficult for you to
conceive, Ann, isn’t it?
Difficult? It’s simply absurd.
Be that as it may, it’s my
business to disclose this information to you. What you do with it is your own
business.
Very magnanimous of you, I’m sure,
but just lobbing a truth bomb into the atrium without in any way helping to
clear up the mess is not what I’d call responsible or adequate disclosure, if
indeed this is disclosure.
Yes. You have a point there.
Well?
Well, your notion of space is
rather…
Inaccurate?
Yes. As far as the unity or
quantum field is concerned, there isn’t really any vast “space” out there – not
in the Newtonian or Einsteinian sense.
Er… so all the stars and galaxies
are close together, are they?
I never said that.
Then what?
Well, the unity field is a bit
like the Greek theatrical unities of space, time and action.
Er… you mean the way all the play
has to happen in one place, on one day with one main plot and nothing else?
Correct.
So how does that relate to our
universe?
The physical universe is largely a
projection of what’s going on inside us. There is a unity field, which we seem
to refer to as a quantum field, quantum being the buzz word at present, where
all things are part of one singular space.
All things are part of one
singular space?
Yep. Perhaps that space extends
outward indefinitely – perhaps extrapolations are valid – but only up to a
certain degree.
Like what?
Only to the extent that we’re
ready, willing and able to go deeper into the unity field which brings
everything into a state of infinite cohesion and oneness.
I don’t see why this has to be.
Yes. That goes without saying –
but you can’t have plus one without a minus one to counterbalance it and hold
it in check.
In check?
Or in position.
Er… why not?
Because fundamentally there can’t be an “out
there”.
I don’t see why not.
Yes, that goes without saying. So,
back to our spaceship…
Yes.
Space is accessible only to the
extent that we’re willing and able to explore and hold together different
frequencies or values of our extended self – our greater reality – it is I am.
It is I am?
Absolutely. Here’s the rub. You or
I – the state is in us – our consciousness, if you like.
The universe and all things… can’t
say I find that very convincing, Dan.
No, that goes without saying, Ann,
does it not?
So you keep saying.
Nothing is going to sound or be
convincing to you unless it’s something one-sided, an outlook on an external world.
That seems to be all you know, all you can know or all you wish to know, which
is why I’m not in the least surprised by your failure to grasp or to accept the
unity field.
Well, that’s that then, isn’t it?
Indeed, that as you so rightly
say, Ann, is that. And never the twain shall meet, and yet...
Yet what?
Yet my story is a spaceship, to
use the 3D term that best describes the phenomenon.
Er...
My story takes you into parts of
your mind, parts of your consciousness you couldn’t otherwise visit.
It’s probably what we refer to as imagination.
It’s wonderful how we’re able to imagine other worlds, utterly unreal, yet we
can visit them mentally and enjoy the experience.
Nothing of the sort.
I beg your pardon, Dan! What did
you mean by that?
You cannot imagine or visit
anything that is unreal, anything that is “pure fiction”.
No?
No. That would be a violation of
the first law of C.
The 1st law of C?
Of consciousness itself. Nothing
can actually be created or generated, even by imagination, unless it has a
corresponding something on the other side of Is, the boundary and interface
between the two.
Oh.
Whether you choose to see or feel
the other side is entirely up to you, but even if you don’t or perhaps can’t,
in story you can go there virtually with the aid of my spaceship.
Your spaceship, Dan, frankly is
deeply underwhelming.
Aye.
If it were a shiny metal disk that
could whisk me off to distant planets, now that would be something else.
Aye, but if I’m right about the
unity field there’s nowhere to go. It’s all here at a different frequency or by
adjusting dials and nobs internally.
But I want more. I want space
travel, aliens, some romance, and you’re just offering me stories.
Whoa there Ann, hold your horses,
the unity field I’m describing has infinite capacity to generate alternative
reality.
Pshaw!
If we’re able to make this ship
fly as I absolutely intend then you’ve no need to go anywhere, it’ll all come
here. Nothing can prevent it.
What do you mean?
You’re going to witness a hyper-acceleration
of 3D reality as the core 3D component, by now so well established, is joined
by, supplemented by another D.
4D?
3D2, 4D, what’s in a
name? A rose is still a rose, just as sweet.
So you say, but I fail to see any
evidence...
Really?
Really.
Well how about this?
III
Pain, the final frontier.
I thought you were offering me
space travel!? All I have is pain.
Oh, no pain no gain, as they say.
Could you dial it down please?
No, but I can dial it up.
What?! It really hurts. What is
it?
Just the pain experienced when the
wheel of Other starts moving independently for the first time.
Ow!
It’s kinda rusty so there’s a lot
of friction.
Ow ow ow ow ow! Stop it now, I beg
you!
Sorry Ann, no can do.
What do you mean?
Just what I said. It’ll be ok in a
minute or two. Trust me...
Owwwwwwwwwwwwww! You’re killing
me.
You’re exaggerating Ann.
Jesus Christ!
Please try not to curse.
Suddenly the pain stops.
What the heck? Thank God!
Welcome to the bridge!
Huh?
Let’s take this machine for a test
run shall we?
What machine, Dan?
Our space ship.
You mean to say that I’m part of
the mechanism?
Absolutely.
But that’s...
Insane, isn’t it. But then again,
how did you, how did any of us really imagine things could be disconnected?
I never would have thought...
Naturally. How could you have!
So what are we waiting for?
Nothing.
Nothing?
Nothing at all.
Er...
Waiting patiently, expectantly,
calmly, knowingly, intently...
Anything else?
For nothing whatsoever.
Er... whatever you say, captain.
Captain? Yes, I suppose I am. Story,
my story does not, cannot ultimately exist in a vacuum.
Indeed.
Everything being interconnected.
So...
So for everything we plan or
choose to do, for every plus one or action there must be a corresponding
inaction or zeron.
Zeron! Yes, I see what you mean.
You do?
Yes Dan, your word seems to have
wings, seems to reach out into the four corners of reality and grow in charge
and strength until it matches and counterbalances the action, purpose, the
intent of the entire universe until suddenly a black hole appears, threatening
to engulf everyone and everything.
I’m not a big fan of black holes, Ann.
No, I entirely agree but this is
just an inversion where the zerosity exceeds critical charge, critical depth,
call it what you will, and suddenly the roles reverse.
Yikes!
The roles reverse as we always
knew they would, for nature abhors a vacuum, and zero starts to one.
Zero starts to one?
Precisely.
And here we are, at the bridge of
consciousness, observing how the matter of 3D finds an entirely new way to arrange itself –
by, through, around everything we imagine we know, everything we’re part of,
including our body and mind revealing something else.
A tale told by a fool, full of
sound and fury, signifying nothing.
So this is impulsion as opposed to
propulsion?
Correct Ann, impulsion utilising
the power and force of zeron, or what they in 3D like to refer to as black hole.
Or holiness?
Heart missing a beat.
Discovering a whole new beat.
Flying nowhere as infinity blows reality
into an ever tighter grid.
As flying nowhere suddenly becomes
the mainstay of our algorithm
Our beat.
As things are powered ever faster into
zero’s trap.
As a hero is born, whose very
purpose is to embody and experience other’s flow.
To embody and experience other-flow:
from infinity back down through things and matter, back to the infinite
gradation of things wanting and needing to rearrange dramatically, in order to
tell an other tale, in order to release the music and poetry trapped within.
Cut! That will do nicely Ann.
Thanks Dan.
A little long-winded but all in
all, not a bad show. The main thing is that we’re now using impulsion,
travelling into the infinite spaces between things, between beats and between
notes.
If only there was some way of
measuring it and describing the stories without having to resort to fiction or
fantasy.
If only...
IV
In which things descend to rock-bottom,
all the way down, never to be seen again.
Bit dramatic that.
I know, but what about this...
What?
Observe their preoccupation
I’m rediscovering magic.
How so ?
When I was a child it was lost
drip by drip, day by day, until nothing remained.
Nothing but tricks.
And that’s called growing up,
isn’t it, learning that magic isn’t real.
Yes. That’s the first part of
growing up.
The first?
Yep.
And the second?
Then comes an age of things in
which you confirm your adherence to the world of things, the matrix, 3D.
And then?
And that’s where people mostly
die, except they might become spiritual and explore religion, feeling,
believing there’s something else.
Right, but what about magic?
Well magic never went anywhere.
Look at the world through the eyes of a child and what do you see?
Er... fairies, unicorns, dragons,
dinosaurs, princesses, wizards and witches...
Precisely. A world stuffed full of
magic.
Yes, I never really thought of
that.
I know, strange isn’t it.
Yes, but surely it’s just childish
fantasy?
Probably not.
No?
Probably it’s actually memory.
Probably children come from a world or realm where these things are as real as bank
statements and insurance policies are in ours.
No way!
And for those of us who are even
vaguely interested in religion there are the words of Jesus who said...
You can only enter the kingdom of
God if you are like a child, but that doesn’t mean we have to believe in magic,
surely?!
Oh, so you think you can be like a
child in some other way? By wetting the bed or crying?
No, it’s just I’m sure Jesus
didn’t want us to believe in fairies and unicorns.
Are you?
Well, it sounds so outlandish, so
far removed from religion.
A lot of what Jesus did was “wrong”
and far removed from religion, wasn’t it?
I suppose so, Dan, but I have to
draw the line at magic. That could never have been his intention.
Never say never, Ann. The point is
that no matter what he meant he explicitly told us to be like them, like
children, and children are not yet fully converted to this world of things.
True.
That’s what makes them special. The
question is whether or how we can be like them again without losing our minds
completely?
You think it’s possible?
No, Ann, I know it is.
Really.
Yep. After all we do it in so many
ways on limited platforms.
We do?
Yes, like reading stories.
Novels are not really childish are
they?
No, they’re adapted to the tastes
of adults, but stories are stories, like it or not, you still disappear into a realm
of fantasy or imagination, whichever it is, and there you can’t help using,
albeit passively, the magic of the child within to make it real.
Agreed, Dan, but I’m far from convinced.
And likewise games and sports. All
of them draw on the child’s imagination, the child’s willingness and ability to
make believe, to enreal an unreality, to practicalise and materialise fantasy.
But I don’t see why you think the
above are particularly childish?
No, because you like to create
separate categories – theatre, literature, games, cards, sport and so on, but
all these things would be impossible without the assistance of the inner child
who has withdrawn into the inner-consciousness. He or she is allowed out like a
dog on a leash in the limited capacity of imaginator.
Oh...
Oh indeed. So this is the next
stage of our development.
And is it sufficient?
Of course not.
What do you mean?
It’s sufficient to stop us going
mad or dying of boredom, but if the Kingdom of God is our goal then no, it
fails spectacularly.
But the Kingdom of God is something
religious, whereas you were talking about magic.
Yes, but just because religions
have positioned themselves as gatekeepers to Jesus’ teachings doesn’t mean they
have the power or the means to prevent humans from reclaiming their birthright.
Er...
If Jesus was serious about us
entering the Kingdom of God as a child then what have we got to lose?
Er, what do you mean?
Why not test the hypothesis.
You mean start trying to reclaim
the child we lost?
Precisely.
But how does one do that?
Not by trusting the adult mind
which will do everything it can to keep us in the matrix, even creating
churches and religions as a phishing alternative which seems to be the real
McCoy but which, likely as not, distract us from the real task.
Wait a second Dan, you’re anti-religion?
No, religion like any other institution
is a vital part of society, and can even help people spiritually, but we’re
focussing on the child within and therefore we need to be highly parsimonious with
our attention.
So religions might be good but
they fail to help us to rekindle the inner child connection. I wonder why?
Partly it’s a matter of
empowerment. The Church is part of the adult world and therefore it benefits,
as any institution or organisation does from your attention, your commitment,
your adherence. The inner child, on the other hand, is neither institution nor
organisation so it does not fix or strengthen your position in this world of
things.
Ok, but how on earth does one
activate the inner child?
Ah, there’s the million dollar
question... How does one complete the journey from child to man to...
To what?
I don’t want to say “child” as the
adult who reactivates the child is going to be a fully empowered adult, which
is what?
A wise adult, perhaps?
Precisely, which is what we’d
normally call a wizard, would we not?
Ok. So how does one become a
wizard?
But which we ought to give a far simpler,
humbler name if we are to avoid the snares of hubris and pride.
Er... whatever, Dan.
The problem being that any name
very soon becomes something else, living a life of its own, especially if magic
is involved.
Well, I don’t see how I can help
you...
And yet without a name our
attention will have nothing to stick to. The whole of 3D is contriving to hold
onto our minds and keep us trapped in the state of things.
Well, we could call ourselves
fools, that’s fairly safe, isn’t it?
You might be right, Ann. How does
one become a fool? That should avoid triggering the 3D’s AI detectors.
So fool it is.
Or gnome?
No Dan, your obsession with gnomes
is somewhat unhealthy.
Ok, you’re probably right. Let’s
stick with fool for the time being. To answer your question, there is no
methodology.
Oh.
There are however several senses
which have been ignored.
There are? Like what?
Well you know the five senses
which are so cherished by adults of 3D – smell, taste, touch, sight and
hearing.
Yes, of course. And you think
there are more than five?
Absolutely.
Like what?
Well there's a sense of time:
we're always to a certain extent aware
of the passage of time, aren't we?
I suppose so, except when we're
reading a good book or watching a good film.
Precisely, because then we’re in
communion with our inner child and somewhat removed from 3D reality.
So there's a sense of time. Any
more?
There are many more, such as a
sense of direction. Many people can find their way in the most difficult places,
for example a forest. It probably was innate in all of us but most of us have
lost this ability and struggle with direction, but even if we’re confused the
sense of direction is still there.
Continue please.
Well we definitely have a sense of
beauty, don't we?
Oh yes.
It's strange isn't it, we take it
for granted and yet it's there in all of us.
And what does the sense of beauty
come from? Do you have any idea?
It comes from our inner child, or
the magic realm. There, beauty is not simply aesthetic.
No? Is it something spiritual?
I expect so, or what else it’s connected
with truth.
Ah ha! Truth!
Yes.
That's also a sense isn't it?
It is indeed. Where would we be
without the sense of truth? And how disappointing it is for children to
discover that truth is “relative” or negotiable in this world of adults. One
more of our senses is surgically removed, discarded on the trash heap of broken
dreams and so-called realism, and yet, try as they might, they cannot
completely wipe out the sense of truth.
Well, Dan, this is all rather
astonishing. The thing I don’t get is how come I never thought of it before.
That’s because they use magic to
suppress our awareness of what to the
inner child is blindingly obvious.
Really? Why?
Think about it, Ann, if you were
still connected to your “higher” senses you wouldn’t buy into their physical
reality. Your senses would tell you it’s baloney.
My truth sense?
That, or your common sense.
But how can you be sure these are
actual senses and not just things the rational mind perceives.
The rational mind can try to
understand or interpret beauty, truth or honour, but it cannot feel them
directly, viscerally in the heart, the gut or wherever it is. It’s the awareness
of something meaningful, something wonderful or magical which accompanies the
feeling which makes these senses a vital bridge between infinity, the realm of
the inner child where physical matter is not in itself a limiting factor, and
3D reality where it most certainly is.
Oh. So if the senses are still
intact, how come we don’t have more success with our inner child? How come
we’re not even aware of their existence?
Good question Ann! To be honest I
don’t have a simple answer. Perhaps we wanted to experience the astonishing
depths of rational materialism and to zero infinity.
To zero infinity?
But why?
Your 3D mind why’s and wherefore’s
to avoid losing control of the plot, so instead of answering this question
let’s trust that there must be a reason which must be known by inner child, if
we're ready to listen and reconnect.
Ok. So we chose to “zero infinity”,
to escape the unity field – presumably no mean feat?
Correct. To descend as far as we
have, we needed to switch off the connection as it would probably have been too
toxic or painful to live here had we known too much. The inner child would have
gone mad living in this witch’s brew of insanity. Does that make sense?
I guess so, but if that's the case
then what's the sense of trying to reconnect if it’s going to drive us insane?
How else are we able to complete
our mission and return to base? Presumably we programmed our unconscious mind to
reactivate the connection once we reach rock bottom, once whatever it is we
sought and needed has been found.
Ok Dan, but this is all very
tentative and theoretical isn't it?
Absolutely. It's pure fantasy and
yet the fool we choose to be can weave gold thread like Rumpelstiltskin from
the straw of fantasy. Besides, no one is telling you what to do or believe,
you're welcome to stay with 3D if that's your choice.
I... Honestly, it’s hard to tell
what
Let’s think of this as a
scientific experiment – I’m determined to investigate the science of child, by reconnecting
as all good fools must with the inner child, IC, sensing and knowing something
vital is missing without the awareness, the presence, the mind that only the
inner child can provide, trusting perhaps foolishly, that Jesus was on to
something, that his kingdom of heaven was not a purely religious phenomenon,
not simply an airy fairy spiritual concept but was in some way connected with
completing the equation, with squaring the circle, with alpha and omega meeting
up, like ouroboros the cosmic serpent.
Oh hell.
In any case, without an awareness
of something else, something missing, of Other, you wouldn't be able to nor would you wish to
proceed, but if this awareness has now arisen and nothing really can stop you.
Your truth-sense or your common sense will see to that if and when...
If and when
V
“The way of the fool.”
Is that how you’re going to market
it?
How else? It can’t be something
clever, can it, otherwise we'll just end up constructing another 3D mechanism.
This, on the other hand, is like poetry. It doesn't make a lot of sense but it
rhymes or it has a certain rhythm which the heart or the inner child feels.
The way of the fool. Ok, why not.
It'll give people an excuse to be idiotic.
On the contrary, idiots are people
who live by the id, the it, taking the thing as gospel, believing the iddy
thing can be or is the real McCoy, as opposed to a +1 topside representation. To
be an “idiot” is to be a normal, functioning human in 3D. It is neither slur
nor slander. It's a simple definition: the standard model of 3D reality’s human
being, nothing less.
I'm not sure you're going to have
a lot of success persuading people they are all idiots just because they are
rational adults in 3D.
They're welcome to think whatever
they like, the proof being in the pudding, in whether they are able to achieve
infinity in practice, whether they are able to escape or deactivate the grid
lines of 3D, the cage which prevents us from experiencing real awareness and
real happiness.
Come on Dan, that's going a bit
far. There are lots of people who experience real happiness in our reality.
Yes, it’s a miracle but you're
right, thankfully, there are a lot who experience real happiness in spite of,
but not because of, 3D’s disconnect. Presumably this is a measure of the
superfluidity of infinity which is somehow able to reach into our reality,
present in the silent space between beats, but happiness is far from
theoretical, it's the natural state when we allow the kingdom of heaven to
awaken within, when we reconnect with the inner child and find that God is not
some distant lordly deity but a natural state of being in our undivided both-ness.
Words, words.
Read between the lines.
Huh?
What do you think I'm doing when i'm not
writing this garbage – tap tap tap?
I honestly have no idea.
Meditating perhaps, or casting spells?
More like falling off a cliff.
Really?
Yes, the structure of 3D is
prescriptive and excludy, so constantly we crash into the edge of the mould,
the barrier trying to contain us, the containment field, and so falling off the
edge of a cliff is an almost daily occurrence as my both-ness refuses to submit
to 3Deity, insisting on parity.
I don't see any cliffs near where
you live, Dan.
The fool sees things differently.
True.
Take a look through these glasses.
Ok.
Dan hands
Ann a pair of IC specs. Ann puts them on and observes an entirely different
version of things. Pow! Zap! Kerzing! Cheee!
Oh, that’s just animé.
Animé?
Chinese cartoons. Heroes
activating their life-force energy, they call it chi, to become superhumans...
Ann
watches trying to figure out whether the animé is in fact real, or whether her
eyes are deceiving her.
It’s another world very close to
our own, part of our bigger-ness you might say. Connecting with IC, as every
fool must, means your world now expands. You cannot help encountering animé and
various other fantasy realms. Test the model. Try it out. But don’t waste your
time if it doesn’t feel right.
Er... why not?
Because there’s no point. IC will
show you what is good for you, what you’re ready for. In any case, the change
always comes by necessity, not by election. Until you reach a critical sector boundary
and you’re about to die coz there’s no way out, you won’t have the strength or
the will to activate your new reserves, your new awareness.
Really?
Absolutely. This is no stroll in
the park. This is do our die.
Not sure I like the sound of that.
Good. It’s not supposed to sound cute.
Infinity takes no prisoners. If you’re not ready, you’ll stay with the gilded
cage of 3D and no one will think any the worse of you. In any case, Ann, I’m
done. I’ve got an animé to make, so gotta run. You can keep the IC specs if you
like.
VI
Alchemy? No idea what you’re on
about. I just...
Wooosh!
Hey, I’m gonna get you too, another one bites the dust, oh
yeah...
Bloody fool!
In conclusion, the unity
field wraps itself around the thing we refer to as 3D, absorbing every aspect
of thing – every fraction – every derivative – every iteration in the Mandelbrot
fractality of thing – bringing the many back into perfect union, perfect unity,
perfect un-ity – an isness of be which knows no beginning, no end.
Happy ending?
You could say so. The sweet
taste of infinity chewing the cud of grass green, digesting the fruits of fancy’s
many, many id-ities serendipitously, if such a thing could conceivably be.
If such a thing were able
to restore the broken chain of provenance, desperately searching for its
missing origins.
If love, melting the masquerade
of people in society, can, does conquer all
if 0=1
tick tick beep 1, 2, 3
